More Ultra Q.
Ok sure big mole, that's fine.
Giant ghost spider, ok that's cool.
But forget those. I had to remind myself what the episode before the spider one was about. It matters so little now. Because The Underground Super Express Goes West is the funniest thing I've watched in a while. Chef's kiss. Nothing's going to top that.
Ultra Q is the only Ultra series that I haven't watched from the Showa era. I'm just about to wrap up Ultraman New Generation Trigger, so maybe I'll watch Q next? It's either that or Dyna
I’ve been liking it. It’s got a wide swing of tones but it keeps it interesting. Some of it is moody monster stuff . Some comedic farce, and some are more Twilight Zone style what ifs.
For anyone looking to get those Showa era Ultraman steelbooks the price drops are moving down the series line.
Return of is down to 12 on Bestbuy and Amazon but sold out on Amazon currently. Oddly the non steelbook version is even less on Best Buy, I thought it was just the steelbooks they were trying to move. Taro and Ace are also down to 12 now (just on Best Buy). Looks like Leo is holding at the higher price point.
Taro was disappointing, but Ace was good and Leo was great.
Taro is kind of similar to the later Showa era Godzilla movies. Cartoonish, silly, clearly aimed towards a young audience. Ace and Leo both had some of what I really wanted from the early series after watching Ultraman and Seven. They are still mostly stand alone episodes but there's some continuity throughout the series that makes them more cohesive than just monster-of-the-week. I liked the early series that had that continuity and bits of character development
I do like how Taro ends with Higashi separating from Taro so he can demonstrate to Mother of Ultra he doesn’t need the powers of an ultra to defend the earth.
And then his method for proving this is to defeat a rampaging Kaiju by just
utterly obliterating an entire industrial sector at the docks in order to bring it down.
Starting Ultraman proper now and so far Ippei > Ide as comic relief goes.
I will never not be amused by a smash cut to a ragdoll stand in being thrown off a roof or cliff
+1
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Forever Zefirocloaked in the midnight glory of an event horizonRegistered Userregular
Starting Ultraman proper now and so far Ippei > Ide as comic relief goes.
I will never not be amused by a smash cut to a ragdoll stand in being thrown off a roof or cliff
Having watched some of Kamen Rider Black now, which is the oldest Rider show I’ve really watched (besides random clips of like the original etc), I love how much dummies get utilized for stunts back then, it’s so obvious and hilarious
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
More than halfway through Ultraman. I like it.
The Akio Jissoji directed episodes stand out as he's always shooting for unusual angles. At first it's kind of too much. When every single shot is creatively framed or angled it kind of makes what's going on a little harder to follow. But when they strike a good balance they're probably the best ones. In the underground menace one it's used to good effect to make everything paranoid and off kilter.
There is an element to the show that's kind of grim in that more often than not it's killing animals basically. Like sometimes it's some alien plot etc. But most of the time it's a big unknown creature causing problems and they kill it.
The first two parter Monster Highness is this element taken to an extreme.
It's a pretty good two parter really, you're not supposed to look at these overly critically for their realism etc.
But in this one I couldn't help but chuckle that this would have resulted in that entire team being rounded up and arrested I think.
Scientists discover a big monster on an otherwise uninhabited south pacific island. They decide it'd be great if they could capture it alive (instead of kill it there and then) and show it off at the upcoming science expo.
So they get two doses of tranquilizer rounds from the United States stamped with a big old USA on the side of the cartridges.
Before they initiate their plan it's literally just kind of lounging around scratching its belly. The two shots of tranquilizer knock it out and they put in a giant net and start carrying it back to Japan with their jets holding up the net.
Unfortunately it wakes up early and they don't have any more tranqs so they're forced to cut it loose near Osaka. The scientist bemoans they'll have to settle for showing it off stuffed. But it survives the massive drop from the sky angry but non the worse for wear. Armed forces have no real luck in harming it. It then burns down into the ground and they've lost it. They're going to try and get more tranquilizers from new York, but it takes a while for them to get a call back in part two that sorry we're all out.
The monster emerges on the outskirts of the city, Ultraman arrives to take it on and gets wrecked. It burrows underground and Ultraman loses his trandormation capsule without realizing it. This is for the monster loving kid plot he fidns it and gets it back to him in time for the rematch.
But meanwhile Osaka needs to be evacuated. Tons of tanks and missle launchers are brought in and they go all out on the monster when it emerges again in downtown Osaka stomping bridges etc. They manage to sever its tail that manages to move around on its own for a while after. The monster submerges again, but theyve got a tracker on it now. And it's heading for cultural heritage site Osaka castle. They've gotta stop it from destroying that at all costs. Tons more ordance launched when it pops back out, tanks are crunched and scattered. AND...Osaka Castle just gets completely smashed. Like the monster goes to town on it. Ultraman rematch ensues, the monster is finally killed. The team celebrates, noting that hey Osaka castle may have thousands of years of history, but this stuffed monster carcass has like millions of years of history so it's a win. The end. You could have just left it there.
It was also a cool monster design, you could kind of tell they'd but some time and effort into this suit.
Outside of Ultraman, I finished watching Kamen Rider Black Sun. Which I also enjoyed. Maybe a little too much focus on being dark and edgy. And the direct recreations of actual police murders weren't needed. You can achieve the same message without that. But it's also astounding how much they're sledgehammering in the political messaging in regards to Shinzo Abe, his party, the cults, the family. Like all of that. Like damn, you did not leave anything behnd, it's hard not to be awed. It does make me want to check out Black at some point. I poked around on streaming and tried the first Zero One. I don't think it's for me. I did the same for Kuuga, and I like its vibe. I'm about three episodes into that, I think it'll fill Black Suns spot of my viewing time.
So, going to start talking about King Oh-Ger since we are at the three episode mark:
First, yes, a lot of the imagery is straight from Attack of Titan, but it manages to stick. There was a lot of effort in selling this world, and the bug theme is completely, 100% integrated. Everywhere you look the bugs look like are supposed to be there.
Second, characters:
Gira. His chuuni act is pure Megumin, and it manages to be charming, since he manages to befriend kids even while constantly getting arrested. Is a nice spin on the "loud Red", specially since they learned from previous seasons and realized that they don't have to ALWAYS YELL, so that's a lot of inmediate improvement on the acting by that alone.
Racles. The state of his kingdom and his "I'm going to use the monster invasion to satisfy my Raging Throner" plan inmediatly makes him a despicable antagonist, and the confrontation with Gira was top tier. And the fact that Gira doesn't know a lot about the other kingdoms or their rulers says a lot about the state of education at Shuggodom. Same as the poverty and the tax collectors.
Yanma Gast. His "cool" act is more solid than Gira's "evil" act, but it still breaks as a huge tsundere dork. And he has standards, like inmediatly ditching his simping for Himeno the second it looked like she just commited a gentrification and, of course, not bowing to Racles.
N'Kosopa Crew: HACKERMAN anime battles and they are all on board on supporting Yanma. Very cyberpunk ish, but it doesn't feel like it sticks out.
Himeno: Yes, she's vain and capricious, but Ishabana has the best healthcare and housing of the 5 kingdoms and it shows. And she's also a dedicated doctor that is all about protecting people.
Ishabana's citizens: Overall, boss has her moods, but they get paid and have the benefits for it, so they are happy. And they take a lot of pride on being the beautiful kingdom dedicated to medicine.
Bugnarok. They are the antagonists, but so far they are just there, will see if something cool happens with them.
Also, we got opening on episode 3, and it has some hilarious visuals:
Everybody posing and Rita just standing there lmao.
Overall I'm very invested on where this show is going, so going to keep watching it.
My partner and I are still working through DonBrothers week to week, so it’ll be a bit before we wrap that and can start our next sentai, but oh man just hit two major markers
- Oden is finally eaten
- The Love Triangle between Tsukasa, Tsuyoshi and Crane hitting the fan. Hirofumi Suzuki’s definitely got the market cornered on “terrifying smiles,” and definitely sells how just unhinged that Tsuyoshi can be when it comes to his obsession with Miho.
Also love the fact that it’s Haruka’s aunt that ends up getting in the room with Tsukasa when he’s finally brought in; curious to see how that one is going to finally go. Also curious just what is going on with Crane, given that it feels more like she snaps into Natsumi mode, and we’ve already seen with her interactions with the other Juuto and the scene where she explains things to Tarou about how the Juuto are how aware she is of her nature as one, so is this an act or something she has no control over.
I’m excited to see where sentai as a franchise goes from here, because DonBrothers definitely broke the formula in interesting ways that explored what Sentai’s dramatic aspects could be, and it seems like King is going to go in it’s own way of forging its own path away from the usual formulas and tones.
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Indie Winterdie KräheRudi Hurzlmeier (German, b. 1952)Registered Userregular
As a heads up, the new trailer is a very literally everything in the movie trailer, if you’re trying to stay on blackout till the movie is available in English
Anno looked at the original manga and said “yeah, we can do that.”
Legit wondering if Bat Augment will wind up with Hongo
Legit impaling him with a full on headstone cross as big as they are, Bat erupting in a damn geyser, like in the manga
Also Someone went and did a side by side with episode one and the scene, and Anno is definitely deliberately evoking a lot of the pacing and feel of the original, while still retaining his sense of motion and kinetic energy:
hey tokusatsu fans, did kamen rider invent the trope of the tokusatsu heroes jumping around all super far and acrobatically, and if it did, did he do this because he was a grasshopper themed superhero
hey tokusatsu fans, did kamen rider invent the trope of the tokusatsu heroes jumping around all super far and acrobatically, and if it did, did he do this because he was a grasshopper themed superhero
Maybe someone else can say for certain; it’s definitely a bit of a Toei move (at least I don’t remember seeing it in the shows era Ultras I’ve seen), but my knowledge of pre-Rider Toei hero Tokusatsu is basically nil; there could be predecessors in some of their black and white productions, but as far as I know the kind of jumps you’re talking about begin at least as far back with Kamen Rider in 71.
As for the theming you could say it plays a part, but also just in general being a cyborg Hongo and Ichimonji have tremendous physical capabilities far beyond normal humans, so you’ll see it reflected in later shows as well where the hero is a machine, like Kikaider, or using special enhancements or are cyborgs again (Gorenger, JAKQ Dengekitai)
So Toei and MBS apparently did a really, really interesting thing.
MBS was the original station for Kamen Rider, but haven’t aired it since the end of Black RX
Until now.
For a special, half hour cut of the first act of Shin Kamen Rider
As a result, we now have more clips floating around, taken from “Release Commemoration Special Broadcast: Movie "Shin Kamen Rider" Premise / Act 1 Kumo Augment-01”
Spoiler contains an image going around of, supposedly, Blazer and some Kaiju that will be appearing in the series
its currently unverified, so keep in mind this could just be a well made fake; if real though it seems like an interesting new visual take on an Ultra, which feels like Nexus and Noa in how their designs departed from the standard yet still clearly evoke Ultraman:
Dan DiDio (former VP/Executive Editor, DC Comics) reveals that the design for the Jaime Reyes version of #BlueBeetle has #PowerRangers / #KamenRider influence, which was what he was looking for in the redesign (way back in 2006).
"We cast a very wide net for designs with all our go-to costume designers, but they all seem to fall a little short or ran too close to the previous designs. We were waiting for something fresh and bold, despite running out of time. I'm not sure who in Editorial contacted Cully Hamner, but I am glad they did.
"When Cully's designs came in, they were exactly what I was looking for. It had that Power Rangers/ Masked Rider influence with a look that stood out from our other characters. And in his design were notes on how the suit functioned, all of which Keith and John worked into their story. So we finally had a look and a team. So while Geoff seamlessly slipped Jaime into issue 3 of INFINITE CRISIS, Keith, John, and Cully worked on the series so that when Jaime makes his first costumed appearance in INFINITE CRISIS 5 (with a great Jim Lee cover), Blue Beetle #1 was on the shelf right next to it—perfect timing and team coordination making for an amazing first issue launch.
Posts
-Solo protagonist against the world(or organization as the case may be)
-Badass motorcycle
-HENSHIN
Ultra Q is the only Ultra series that I haven't watched from the Showa era. I'm just about to wrap up Ultraman New Generation Trigger, so maybe I'll watch Q next? It's either that or Dyna
Lol, it even sounds like the Green Ranger theme.
Return of is down to 12 on Bestbuy and Amazon but sold out on Amazon currently. Oddly the non steelbook version is even less on Best Buy, I thought it was just the steelbooks they were trying to move. Taro and Ace are also down to 12 now (just on Best Buy). Looks like Leo is holding at the higher price point.
Taro is kind of similar to the later Showa era Godzilla movies. Cartoonish, silly, clearly aimed towards a young audience. Ace and Leo both had some of what I really wanted from the early series after watching Ultraman and Seven. They are still mostly stand alone episodes but there's some continuity throughout the series that makes them more cohesive than just monster-of-the-week. I liked the early series that had that continuity and bits of character development
And then his method for proving this is to defeat a rampaging Kaiju by just
I will never not be amused by a smash cut to a ragdoll stand in being thrown off a roof or cliff
Having watched some of Kamen Rider Black now, which is the oldest Rider show I’ve really watched (besides random clips of like the original etc), I love how much dummies get utilized for stunts back then, it’s so obvious and hilarious
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
The Akio Jissoji directed episodes stand out as he's always shooting for unusual angles. At first it's kind of too much. When every single shot is creatively framed or angled it kind of makes what's going on a little harder to follow. But when they strike a good balance they're probably the best ones. In the underground menace one it's used to good effect to make everything paranoid and off kilter.
There is an element to the show that's kind of grim in that more often than not it's killing animals basically. Like sometimes it's some alien plot etc. But most of the time it's a big unknown creature causing problems and they kill it.
The first two parter Monster Highness is this element taken to an extreme.
It's a pretty good two parter really, you're not supposed to look at these overly critically for their realism etc.
But in this one I couldn't help but chuckle that this would have resulted in that entire team being rounded up and arrested I think.
Scientists discover a big monster on an otherwise uninhabited south pacific island. They decide it'd be great if they could capture it alive (instead of kill it there and then) and show it off at the upcoming science expo.
So they get two doses of tranquilizer rounds from the United States stamped with a big old USA on the side of the cartridges.
Before they initiate their plan it's literally just kind of lounging around scratching its belly. The two shots of tranquilizer knock it out and they put in a giant net and start carrying it back to Japan with their jets holding up the net.
Unfortunately it wakes up early and they don't have any more tranqs so they're forced to cut it loose near Osaka. The scientist bemoans they'll have to settle for showing it off stuffed. But it survives the massive drop from the sky angry but non the worse for wear. Armed forces have no real luck in harming it. It then burns down into the ground and they've lost it. They're going to try and get more tranquilizers from new York, but it takes a while for them to get a call back in part two that sorry we're all out.
The monster emerges on the outskirts of the city, Ultraman arrives to take it on and gets wrecked. It burrows underground and Ultraman loses his trandormation capsule without realizing it. This is for the monster loving kid plot he fidns it and gets it back to him in time for the rematch.
But meanwhile Osaka needs to be evacuated. Tons of tanks and missle launchers are brought in and they go all out on the monster when it emerges again in downtown Osaka stomping bridges etc. They manage to sever its tail that manages to move around on its own for a while after. The monster submerges again, but theyve got a tracker on it now. And it's heading for cultural heritage site Osaka castle. They've gotta stop it from destroying that at all costs. Tons more ordance launched when it pops back out, tanks are crunched and scattered. AND...Osaka Castle just gets completely smashed. Like the monster goes to town on it. Ultraman rematch ensues, the monster is finally killed. The team celebrates, noting that hey Osaka castle may have thousands of years of history, but this stuffed monster carcass has like millions of years of history so it's a win. The end. You could have just left it there.
It was also a cool monster design, you could kind of tell they'd but some time and effort into this suit.
Outside of Ultraman, I finished watching Kamen Rider Black Sun. Which I also enjoyed. Maybe a little too much focus on being dark and edgy. And the direct recreations of actual police murders weren't needed. You can achieve the same message without that. But it's also astounding how much they're sledgehammering in the political messaging in regards to Shinzo Abe, his party, the cults, the family. Like all of that. Like damn, you did not leave anything behnd, it's hard not to be awed. It does make me want to check out Black at some point. I poked around on streaming and tried the first Zero One. I don't think it's for me. I did the same for Kuuga, and I like its vibe. I'm about three episodes into that, I think it'll fill Black Suns spot of my viewing time.
Second, characters:
Also, we got opening on episode 3, and it has some hilarious visuals:
Everybody posing and Rita just standing there lmao.
Overall I'm very invested on where this show is going, so going to keep watching it.
- The Love Triangle between Tsukasa, Tsuyoshi and Crane hitting the fan. Hirofumi Suzuki’s definitely got the market cornered on “terrifying smiles,” and definitely sells how just unhinged that Tsuyoshi can be when it comes to his obsession with Miho.
Also love the fact that it’s Haruka’s aunt that ends up getting in the room with Tsukasa when he’s finally brought in; curious to see how that one is going to finally go. Also curious just what is going on with Crane, given that it feels more like she snaps into Natsumi mode, and we’ve already seen with her interactions with the other Juuto and the scene where she explains things to Tarou about how the Juuto are how aware she is of her nature as one, so is this an act or something she has no control over.
I’m excited to see where sentai as a franchise goes from here, because DonBrothers definitely broke the formula in interesting ways that explored what Sentai’s dramatic aspects could be, and it seems like King is going to go in it’s own way of forging its own path away from the usual formulas and tones.
For a limited time, Toei has a promo up of the first three minutes of Shin Kamen Rider on YouTube
A heads up: it is much bloodier than you would expect from non-Amazon Kamen Rider
Holy shit
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Anno looked at the original manga and said “yeah, we can do that.”
Legit wondering if Bat Augment will wind up with Hongo
Also Someone went and did a side by side with episode one and the scene, and Anno is definitely deliberately evoking a lot of the pacing and feel of the original, while still retaining his sense of motion and kinetic energy:
Again, a heads up for a lot of blood
Walking the path of heaven, the one who rules over all…
Maybe someone else can say for certain; it’s definitely a bit of a Toei move (at least I don’t remember seeing it in the shows era Ultras I’ve seen), but my knowledge of pre-Rider Toei hero Tokusatsu is basically nil; there could be predecessors in some of their black and white productions, but as far as I know the kind of jumps you’re talking about begin at least as far back with Kamen Rider in 71.
As for the theming you could say it plays a part, but also just in general being a cyborg Hongo and Ichimonji have tremendous physical capabilities far beyond normal humans, so you’ll see it reflected in later shows as well where the hero is a machine, like Kikaider, or using special enhancements or are cyborgs again (Gorenger, JAKQ Dengekitai)
MBS was the original station for Kamen Rider, but haven’t aired it since the end of Black RX
Until now.
For a special, half hour cut of the first act of Shin Kamen Rider
As a result, we now have more clips floating around, taken from “Release Commemoration Special Broadcast: Movie "Shin Kamen Rider" Premise / Act 1 Kumo Augment-01”
I really hope it gets a theater showing here like Shin Ultraman
XBL - Foreverender | 3DS FC - 1418 6696 1012 | Steam ID | LoL
Not sure if fansubbed or official, but subtitled version of the current trailer
There’s a surprise: Z is getting a dub on YouTube
Or was that one of the older shows?
its currently unverified, so keep in mind this could just be a well made fake; if real though it seems like an interesting new visual take on an Ultra, which feels like Nexus and Noa in how their designs departed from the standard yet still clearly evoke Ultraman: